[Sandy]

Hi, I have always been economical but I do waste stuff as well, just now I notice that being poor makes you more creative and posibly less costly re waste etc, we can all buy stuff we do not really need!! that £1 shop gets me every time  Anyway, I just love the tips on super scrimpers and thought, I bet others on here will have loads of money saving ideas, after speaking to my brother about how much some people spend on toiletries he said,, he used to go to the hairdressers bins (I know it's illegal) and take out the expensive shampoo bottles as they always had a bit left in them!! mind you, gone are the days of skip diving!!!!! SO, what things do people do to save??

[kaz]

When shopping, try some of the supermarkets economy range of foods. Some great some not so. Try food shopping in places like Lidl or Aldi or something along that line.

[ellisr]

I now have an electric oven so I plan when I am using it and I make sure I cook meals for the freezer, bread, cakes all in the same. I make cottage cheese instead of buying it (milk not quite boiling and lemon juice). We make meals for work instead of buying anything which actual saves over £2000 a year. We make all our own homebrew. Reuse any food containers as plant pots or if they have lids for storage. Save bottles for homebrew. Make fuel bricks from shredded paper I get from  work or use the shredded paper for animals bedding. mend all clothes until they can't be mended any more old jumpers normally get recycled into cushion covers or bags. I use bicarbonate of soda for tough cleaning around the home and mix it with salt if I need a scrub, and lots lots more

[Sandy]

WOw, trouble is with baking loads of cakes is I eat loads of cakes but I used to make loads of meals that had to go into the oven, then freeze the spare ones, I also use the cheapest washing powder, I have for a long time, also the cheapest fabric conditionet and I know Steve waters it down. I saw the cottage cheese on Super scrimpers and loved that one, another one was some porrage in the mince to make if go further, my brother said that porrage in mince can be slimy, not cooked any for ages. I also made some cheap puds when my children were little by making jam sandwiches and coating them with egg and frying, eggy bread with jam but they tast a bit like jam puffs. I also used to save the remains of smelly candels and melt them into one of those gravy mix cardboard tubs as you can peel them out. I hate all the wipes you get these days and always have used ripped up square bits of material for stuff. We put smelly stuff in the hoover and also sometimes behine the rads. I keep bicarb in for wet matresses as it soaks up the moisture.

Looking forward to some more, love to save on cleaning stuff!

[doganjo]

My first port of call at Morrisons is the fish counter - there are always bargains to be had there as they sell fresh fish and any that's left over is really reduced, that goes in the freezer as soon as I get home.  I also watch out for any special deals, like two fish and chips in one pack for £2, since there's just me that's two meals.  Next place is the meat and prepacked reduced counter - also lots of stuff there that can be frozen straight off.  Then I head for the bread counter where there are often reduced buns/bread/cakes (not bought now though), and just beside that is the counter fro odds and endsbashed tins etc - often good bargains there too, as well as sauces/chutmneys almost at sell by.  The manufacturers have extrmely short 'sell by's' tehse days because we live in a 'sue them' culture these days so they can actually be used for quite a while.  Often find shampoos/soaps/air fresheners there too.

I buy vinegar and lemon juice to clean windows with.

Morisons dog treats are £1.25 a pack, but if you buy two it's £2 so 50p off.  I watch out for cat and dog food bargains too, and now only feed my dogs Purina Breeder pack.  I also get cheaper layers pellets now from Colin - c.m.c on here. Almost £2 cheaper a 20kg bag than from two other places I used to shop and I need a bag a week (usinng the recommended guidelines of amounts to feed per chicken/duck per day)

[Dizzycow]

This is a strange one, but we've started getting Wisemans Dairies to deliver milk to us three times a week. It's slightly more expensive than in the shops, but it cuts down trips to the shops to buy a pint of milk (and invariably coming out with a bag of things you didn't intend to buy!) which saves loads. The best thing is that the bottles are reused so it has cut our recycling down by half and is much better for the environment. Everyone who comes for a cuppa enthuses over 'real' milk bottles too.

[ellisr]

instead of buying lemonade just pop 2 full lemons into a liquidiser with ice and cold water (sugar if you want) and whizz for 10 seconds, strain through  a seive into a pitcher and drink keep in the fridge for a few days if it last that long. I try to reuse all bath and dish water for the plants. Use lemons skins to clean benches and leave a lovely smell. Make mayo in the liquidiser a couple oil of the girls eggs, teaspoon of mustard powder and pour veg in until it goes thick. Lemon curd is really simple to make and tastes much better than the shops. Grow veg in pots next to the kitchen door so that you can reach out and get them it makes it much more likely for you to eat healthy and save money. Clean leather shoes with banana skin and polish off. use left over veg from sunday dinner into bubble and squeak on monday and serve with a fresh leave salad from the pots outside the kitchen or if still a bit cold keep salad leaves growing on kitchen window sill. Bulk out cheese savory with grated carrot. Buy the best meat you can afford as you don't need as much for flavour and don't mess around too much with it so you can enjoy the flavour. To clean the dishwasher and washer use washing soda and run a short cycle. use washing soda to unblock kitchen sinks.

Gosh I sound like a skin flint saddo

[Greenerlife]

i don't buy conditioner for clothes any more and I try to air dry clothes.  I also use eco balls for doing most of my washing - save a fortune on washing liquids and save the earth!

I am not proud - I raid other peoples rubbish when I think I can make use of it! I tear up OH shirts (he still hasn't realised this) and use them as rags for cleaning.  make my own winter logs from waste paper during the summer. Preserve everything I grow or get given. (Got given leftover coconuts from the local fete and I spent all day husking and chopping and drying!). Always look for second hand things rather than buy new if I can.  Barter goods I make for people with skills or machinery I don't have.

other less hands on tasks are such things as looking properly at Uswitch for power prices.  Not afraid to change the way I have done things forever if I save doing it!  Dure I will think of some more later...

[Sandy]

I remember going to the local corner shop with a list from my mum for groceries like washing powder, bacon, cheese, maybe some tins etc, he would pack it in a box and his delivery boy on a cycle bring it to you, my brother did that job for a while,  then a women came around every week with veg but we also had an allotment, Butchers once a week and bread from the bakers etc, SO, I bet all that shopping wold have fit into a large cardbord box with very little wrappings or waste, that was for at least 4 of us but often more as we had lodgers who also ate, now I bet, even on our tight budget we buy more for a weeks shopping and have heps more rubbish. I keep forgetting to try the bannana for the shoe trick!!!
We have a neighbour who knows when each supermarket put thier deals out, some more on Tuesday evening some on Wednesday etc etc, Asda have also some good deals, in Alloa they keep them at the bottom of the store in the chill cabinate and Tesco at the top also in the chiller, you can sometimes get a nice tea, from the co op, I got 4 small bags of mixed veg for 20 each so made a veg curry.

I worked with a man in Glasgow who traded in Barrowlands , he had a large van and circled Glasgow for stuff that was left out to be collected and then either sells it or keeps it and he IS a rich man!! THat was something I found interesting on moving to Scotland, TV's, furniture, cookers etc can all be seen outside schemes on the pavement and in the morning, as if by majic, they are gone!
We are not skin flints, its amazing how much some people buy for themselves each week, we have done in the past and its not necessary at all.

[ellisr]

A good way to save money is to make a weekly menu and stick to it

[Beewyched]

Lists!!!

Lists for everything from our food, animal food, to-do lists etc

Sounds very OCDish, but we live 2 miles away from the "local" village shop & it's a 15-mile round trip to pick-up the animal feed.  With the price of petrol  it's really costly to have to "pop out" for some forgotten essential 

[ellied]

Planning every outing to make the most of the fuel being used - Monday nights I go out to run a drumming class so Mondays I go past the recycling centre, 2 local shops and with a short detour can meet a friend at Pillars if I have any wanting coffee out these days!  If I'm going to Glasgow I now go by train and use that time to read or plan, and I pick up diesel and go to Tesco on the way home - unless there is a 5p/litre off in which case I go to Cupar as the Perth petrol station by Tesco isn't a Tesco one!  And if I'm in Perth for a visit (or Glasgow or Edinburgh or Dundee) I try and pack in a full day of things and meetings whether they're social or practical tasks.  And other days I don't go out - the nearest town is 3 miles so I can pop in for milk if need be but will ensure I post letters, go to the bank or something while there too!

I also rarely throw any clothes out, they go from fit to wear in town to fit for house only to layers for winter outdoors and then direct to the fire as kindling.  Don't bother using them as cleaning rags cos I don't clean that often other than hoover and spray kitchen/bathroom surfaces so a pack of J cloths lasts a long time anyway and are quite cheap by multipack  

I gave all iron-needy clothes to the charity shop so I never have to iron now I don't own a tumble dryer so the washing goes out on the line or on an airer in the bath in winter, and if I'm using the oven I try and fill it and maybe the hob while I'm at it and freeze everything I can for future use rather than let it rot.

Stack up on special offers but only of things I use regularly like cat food (12 can packs where available, 6's if not and always the cheaper ones the cats will eat eg Kitekat rather than cheapest Tesco they won't always eat or expensive ones I don't want to pay for!), washing powder, good ground coffee etc.  And horse wormers too as they're often cheaper in 20+ lots I have things I'll buy only if on offer and not the rest of the time, and I have weaned myself off buying bargains of things I won't use even if they're BOGOFs.

Oh and I don't buy many cleaning products, no makeup/cosmetic products and only the bargain shampoos, no conditioners etc..

Local hairdresser rather than city salon, swaps rather than money where possible for therapies and massages, and own brand chaff for the ponies if needed, from a trusted local farm supplier..  And cos I like films I rent DVDs on a monthly package through winter rather than pay for Sky Movies or purchase individual films I will probably only watch once - the subscription is about £10 a month and you can get 2 "holidays" a year so I usually take one over the summer July-August and another at Christmas when post is often delayed and TV has better offerings. It means I can also catch up on previous seasons of favourite TV shows without buying box sets.  The less clutter in the house, the less cleaning too

And finally, carboots, Freecycle etc - amazing what folk want and don't want, but again the trick is not to buy things you don't actually need just cos they're a bargain

[Sandy]

I'm loving these posts!!!!!! Most of my purchases, clothing, etc are either free or second hand, I have some nice designer stuff as well as some nice furniture. As we have a B&B I looked around one night to see what people could steel, apart from towels, nothing else is worth much, only this comp and my MP3 and the dogs of course. Because of the B&B I do have to keep cleaning stuff, the aromatherapy stuff in the hoover makes the place smell nicer usualy and I tend to wear old stuff to clean and dust with whatever I am wearing!!!!!!!

I buy the cheapest mild in bulk and put it in the freezer and the same with bread, like Anne said, often  you can get a loaf for 40p or less and its just the same as the ones well over £1, I did sometimes make bread but not ideal for toast in the B&B. I freeze a lot of my bargains and recently had a pack of mackerel for 40p, there were 5  in there and so the dogs had them!!!! I do my hair myself (it shows ) and buy £1 shop make up if needed that lasts me for ages and ages, my biggest extravegance is deoderant, usualy not more than £1 a time but I don't always use it as I have a nice smelly shower and due to not working do not feel the need, I also have NO perfume although I love to smell nice I occasionaly use a cheap spray!!!

One thing I do not like to buy cheap is Tea or Coffee!!!!!

[wellywearer]

Really enjoying this topic! I am interested in the idea of making "logs" from paper (price of oil is scary and around here where we have no mains gas, wood is going up too), is it difficult Greenerlife/Ellisr? Do you need special kit?

[ellisr]

Really enjoying this topic! I am interested in the idea of making "logs" from paper (price of oil is scary and around here where we have no mains gas, wood is going up too), is it difficult Greenerlife/Ellisr? Do you need special kit?

You just need a press from amazon or similar and a large bucket. A space to dry the logs and some patients. I use shredded paper from work and home office and it works a treat